Breastfeeding After Reduction Surgery

Breast reduction surgery is highly common but for many women it comes with questions and concerns about the ability to breastfeed after having it done. Check back on this page for current medical info on the topic as I research it. I have included a personal story about it as well from a mother I met on the breastfeeding newsgroup Misc.Kids.Breastfeeding.

Jennifer's Story


"Enzo was 9.4 at birth, and a voracious eater. Even though I had the support of my family to breastfeed, both my mother and my MIL had formula fed their children.

I'd had a breast reduction about 15 years prior to delivery, and I remember my mother telling the doctor, "You make certain that she'll be able to breastfeed her children." I was raised in such a pro-bfing environment that I never even knew I was formula fed until I was pregnant with Enzo! It was just assumed that you breastfed your kids, period. I took the breastfeeding class at
the hospital, read the books, and I thought I was good to go.

Sure enough, Baby Boot Camp came along, and I had NO IDEA what hit me. Enzo was an exceptionally high-needs baby, who would nurse for 90 minutes, take a 30-minute snooze, then wake back up again and nurse for 90 minutes again. He
had colic as well, which only complicated matters. And what did everyone say? "He must not be getting enough breastmilk, you'd better supplement!" His weight gain was only at the 50th percentile, and we simply can't have that, now can we? If your baby isn't off the charts, you aren't a good
enough mother, you're starving your child! <cue dramatic music>

So supplement I did, from weeks 3 until 8. (Of course, he was still high-needs and fussy, but NOW it was acceptable, b/c he was getting some formula. And oh, btw, he'd probably be MORE content if you just gave him MORE formula, so go ahead!)

At some point during this time, I decided to start asking some questions. I posted at the newsgroup Misc.Kids.Breastfeeding and put a call in to my local Lactation Consultant. I got some advice from her, about getting a good pump and some info on Fenugreek, but she admitted that she didn't have experience with breast-reduction patients and gave me the number tot he Lactation Consultant at the nearest big city. Ran the info by the new Lactation Consultant, and was told, "Yes, you need to supplement. You probably had ducts cut during your surgery, so you have to supplement." (Mind you, this is sight-unseen,
just over the phone.)

But I had this question in the back of my mind: "If I'm producing milk to begin with, can't I just produce MORE?" Darndest thing, that question would NOT go away!

Come to find out, here's what I needed: A healthy dose of honesty! And get it I did, at Misc.Kids.Breastfeeding. Sure, I got a few of the, "You need to do what's best for
you" posts, which I believe are truly kind in nature. But I was committed to breastfeeding, and I needed to know how. So the people there told me what to do. No, it wouldn't be easy, and it wouldn't always be pleasant or convenient. But if it really meant something to me, yes, they were all
confident I could do it, based upon the fact that my son WAS gaining weight prior to supplementing.

At 8 weeks, I decided enough was enough. The formula got thrown out, and by 10 weeks, Enzo and I had FINALLY established his supply. I did what I had to, and at 21 months, Enzo is still nursing away. At one year he was getting 90% of his nutrition from breastmilk, and he still gets quite a bit today.

Was it worth it? I won't lie, when Enzo was teething and wanted to do nothing but nurse, I might have had a second thought here and there. But those times have been very few and far between. Now, when he makes his nursing sign and I hold my arms out and ask, "Do you want to nurse?" he does
this little Peanuts happy dance, I know I made the right decision.

Over New Year's, DH and I had colds so bad we could hardly get out of bed. After Christmas, Enzo had been losing interest in solids and asking to nurse more, and he'd been basically demanding that I give him all the Clementine
tangerines he wanted (which was a lot). At the time, I wondered if his instincts were kicking in and his body was trying to tell him something. Now I'm sure of it. This child had nary a sniffle whilst DH and I were laid up
over the weekend. Yes, it's anecdotal, but it's an anecdote with scientific research on both breastmilk and vitamin C to back it up, so I'll take it.*

I hope that's acceptable as an intro, I'm not sure if it should be more or less in-depth. Also, I'm not as educated as most of you here seem to be; I don't know the stats on Breastfeeding After Reduction, I'm only learning about meds now from this list, and so on. I can only tell you what worked *for me*, and say that I admire each and every one of you for even contemplating Breastfeeding After Reduction. In a society where too many women make lame excuses not to bf at all, you are all heroes for going to the lengths you do to nurse your children.

I'm a provisional Bradley instructor and friends with the LC at one of my local hospitals, so I'm hoping to pass along all of the education I'm sure I'll get on this list. I'll probably mostly lurk, that's my style; but hopefully once in a while I'll have something to offer than can help. I'm
looking forward to being here!"

Supportive groups

Breastfeeding after reduction site

BFAR email list info

BFAR Information (Yahoo group)

More BFAR Information (Yahoo group)